He Never Gave Up
by EdenStar
Summary: Jiraiya was so taken aback that his friend had refused to listen to him that he went into seclusion, living as a hermit for many years. When he told me that, I swore I wouldn't give up on you...


A/N: I was inspired from watching a wonderful Naruto AMV that Toby sent me forever ago. (link, here (remove spaces): http/youtube. com/watch ?vgq1kn qF-nXA) I dunno why, but I found Sasuke to be a hell of a lot easier to write as then I did Naruto. Yeah, I guess I'm weird. Then again, the whole story flowed together better from Sasuke's POV than Naruto's. Anyhow, I hope you'll enjoy it. This fic is free of Shonen-Ai, so all may enjoy it. This is dedicated to Sharingan216 and her love of Sasuke. Enjoy, Sharingan!

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"Who are they?" I glance up as the question is asked of me. It's only Kabuto, so I give him no answer. I'm trying to read, I don't need him bothering me.

"Who are they?", Kabuto repeats, plunking his lazy ass beside me and shoving a photograph under my face so I have no choice but to look at it.

I feel myself stiffen. He's holding a picture of my family under my nose. It was taken on Christmas day nearly thirteen years ago. I can see my mother, smiling sweetly, as she pushes a box into the hands of my younger self. My father stands beside our tree, looking stern and cross...and my brother..my brother... I angrily slap the picture away from Kabuto.

"Where did you get that?", I demand, snatching the picture off the floor after it slips from Kabuto's grasp.

Kabuto looks at me calmly. If I was anyone else, of course, I'd be dead by now, but I'm too much use to Orochimaru and he knows it. "If you don't want people looking at your things, don't leave them lying around."

I refuse to say anything else to him, and he leaves. I try to go back to my reading, but I can't. I glance at the picture again, my eyes on my mother's face. How anyone could kill that sweet woman for their own personal gain...

I clench my hands into fists. The culprit of her murder is in the picture, of course. He's smiling as mom passes the shiny box to my younger self, but I have to wonder now if he wasn't already planning our parents' deaths. I wonder now if he's smiling because he's happy it's Christmas or if he's smiling because of all the power he will gain by killing off our entire clan.

I sigh and toss the book aside, standing up and stretching. I reach under my bed and grope around until my fingers brush against what I'm looking for. Kabuto will never notice one of his scalpels are missing-or if he does, I doubt he'll care. He'll probably just imagine he left it in some victim he and Orochimaru were experimenting on. As I stand up, I can see my reflection in the mirror. I imagine what the person standing in front of me would look like with his blood pouring out, his eyes glazing over until there was no life left in him.

Soon. Soon it would all be over. This hellish nightmare would end. I hate my reflection as it stares back at me-long black hair droops over my shoulders. I'm not sure how long my hair is now, I just know it is pretty long. It's grown quite a bit since I've been here-Orochimaru likes his underlings to have long hair. The brilliant red of the Sharingan eyes, my skin's gotten paler since I've been here. I've become him. The monster I've sworn to kill, a bastard that I had once admired, until he took everything from us that night, I'd become him.

I think that is what scares me most about this whole situation. And I am spending my days in fear. I have no idea when Orochimaru plans to absorb me to be his next vessel, and I spend my days worrying that I won't get Itachi back before Orochimaru decides it is time. I honestly don't care that Kabuto might try to poison me in my sleep-he'd be doing me a favor. No, what worries me is that I won't kill my brother. What scares me is when I look in the mirror and see Itachi's long hair, pale face, and cruel eyes staring right back at me. I pull my gaze from the mirror feeling disgusted. It's Ok though, because tonight it will all end.

I grab a bag and start stuffing personal items I wouldn't want Orochimaru to see even if I was dead. It's not much, pictures mostly, but I don't think he'd understand them. Well, maybe he would, now that I think about it. I just don't know. He has a picture in his room-I saw it once when I went in there planning to kill him one night-of himself and his former teammates when they were children with their sensei. I'd been so surprised at seeing the picture, and so taken aback at how innocent Orochimaru had looked, that I'd actually left his room without touching him. Sometimes I see a scary resemblance between my personality and Orochimaru's. This sort of scares me, too. I don't want to be like him-well, more so than I already am, I guess.

I sigh and stuff the last picture into my bag and give the room one last glance. I'd never step foot in this room again. I'd be gone by morning. I grab the scalpel and and carefully exit out the window. If they caught me, I'd be guarded so closely I'd never have the chance to take my own life. I walk across the cold grass with only wooden sandles on my feet, feeling the blades stab at my ankles like icy knives. It's such a cool evening my wet hair is freezing to my neck-maybe my blood would freeze too. That would be so befitting for me-everyone always said I was cold. Wouldn't it be ironic if I was found dead in a pool of my own frozen blood? I kneel down on the ground and ready myself for what I'm about to do.

I'm so tired of everything. Tired of trying so hard and always falling short of my goals, tired of my own weaknesses, tired of being so disgusted with myself. More than anything, though, I am tired of sinking deeper and deeper in this hole of darkness, watching as the darkness inside me spread like a disease as I slowly became more and more like the person I hated the most. I can't take it anymore. This is my only way out. I can feel tears on my cheeks as I lift Kabuto's scalpel to my wrist. I'll never see my mother again now. They don't let monsters in the place she's in.

"Well, well, well. I'd have never expected this out of you!". That voice...it sounded familiar, and yet, very different. I lift my head towards the sound of the voice and see someone I hadn't seen in years, and truthfully, never expected to see again.

Naruto.

He looks so much different now. He's taller than I am, even though when we were younger he'd been a little on the short side. He's strong-looking, broad-shouldered. His blond hair is just as messy as it's ever been, but his blue eyes aren't sparkling with mischief. No. The look he gives me now is one of mixed disgust and pity. It's infuriating. I don't want his sympathy. I don't need it.

"What's it to you?", I demand, but the scalpel in my hand drops to the ground none-the-less. I wasn't going to kill myself in front of him.

Naruto clucks his teeth. "Same attitude as ever I see."

He reaches down and grabs my wrist and I flinch inwardly. His hands are so much bigger than mine-I feel almost like a helpless girl around him. When had he become so strong? I half-expected his other huge, tan hand to close around my throat, but he only pulls me to my feet.

"What happened to you, Sasuke? You look..." he trailed off

Looked what? Hurt? Defeated? Frightened? A weird combination of all three? And why is being so nice to me when the last time I saw him I left him lying out in the rain unconscious? Unconscious due to a beating I'd given him. He made no sense!

"Ive been looking for you, you know. I'm glad I found you when I did."

My gaze meets his for a second, and I don't see the fury or anger I thought I would. I see only concern someone holds for their friends.

"Why?", I finally whisper when he doesn't say anything else.

"Because I've always understood. I didn't like it, especially when we were younger, but I understood. Some people are prideful-but that pride breaks. I knew that you might not be ready to come back at fifteen, but sooner or later, you would be. And judging by this" here he picks up the scaple "I was right." He smiles and continues. "Besides. You're my rival and my best friend. I'd be damned if I let you become my enemy."

I stare at him, trying to absorb everything he's said. Best friend. I had no idea he saw me as such.

"So...are you ready to come back to Konoha now?" He looks at me with such a peculiar expression even I don't understand it.

"I can't. I'm a traitor, they'd never let me come back..."

"Oh, they will" His eyes glitter, just like when we were kids and he'd proclaimed he was going to do something crazy and outlandish. "You see, Sasuke, I can easily allow you to come back."

"What are you talking about?" Who in the their right mind would listen to some 19-year-old kid?

"Well...you know...", he laughs irritatingly, but suddenly, I think I know what he's going to say.

"...I'm the sixth Hokage now. Tsunade-San didn't want the position for long."

Just as I thought. No wonder he was so much more mature now. However, no amount of maturity would stomp out that playfulness.

"So, are you coming back?"

I glance at him and nod. I have nothing to say. My nod is good enough for him, though, because suddenly, he hugs me.

"Ummm...Moron. I can't breathe."

He pulls back, a huge grin on his face. "You're so small now! Did they not feed you? You're skinny!"

"I've always been thinner than you. No doubt twenty pounds of your weight is ramen."

He pats his stomach. "Twenty pounds well-stored!" and he starts to laugh. Once he calms down, he adds "We're going to have to work on you calling me moron all the time"

"Heh. You will always be a moron to me"

"Fair enough". Naruto starts walking and I take that as my cue to follow him.

"So...Why'd you really come looking for me?", I ask

Naruto glances at his feet. "Well...after our last encounter, I told Ero-Sennen-Jiraiya-San-what happened. He told me about how when he was a little older than we are now, Orochimaru did pretty much the same thing you did. And just as I did for you, Jiraiya-San pleaded with Orochimaru..."

"And just like with me, Orochimaru was not to be pursued." I feel sick as I say it

'yes, but here's where it gets different. You see, just like us, Orochimaru and Jiraiya-San were close friends. Jiraiya-San was so taken aback that his friend had refused to listen to him that he went into seclusion, living as a hermit for many years. When he told me that, I swore I wouldn't give up on you. I was sure if I found you again after a few years in the darkness, you'd come back. Maybe that would have been all Orochimaru needed, too. His friend to come back in his darkest hour and call him back. Or maybe he's been a lost cause all along. I don't know, and we'll never know, because no one ever tried to find him again."

As Naruto finishes up, I find myself remembering the picture in Orochimaru's room. It dawns on me just how close I became to being him. Naruto saved me, I realize. "Naruto. Thank you."

"Hey, don't thank me. I might think there's something wrong with you."

He laughs and I smile.

"You've been around Orochimaru too long. Look how white you are. We need to get some color on you."

"I'll work on it", I reply, gazing at my pale arm.

"And that long hair has got to go. You look like a girl!"

"I'll gladly cut it off"

"And then, you can go on a date with Sakura-Chan"

"Sakura?", I ask

"Oh, yes. I promised her I'd bring you back for her."

"So she's in on this, too?"

"You got it"

"Heh. Idiot". I smile

"Hey! As your Hokage, I demand you not call me an idiot!"

"Don't push your luck"

He laughs again and we continue on. In a few hours, Orochimaru will wake up and notice I am missing. I don't care, because I will be long gone.

Beside me, Naruto is talking about his girlfriend, Hinata, and all the responsibilities that go along with being Hokage, and how Sakura had waited for me to come back for six years.

I'm sure it's just an illusion, but for a moment, I see my mother watching me. She's smiling and tears are in her eyes. In the blink of my own eye, she is gone.

Don't worry, Mother. I got a second chance. I won't waste it this time.

"Hey. You alright?", Naruto asks.

"Never better", I reply, and that;s the truth.

Like I said, it would all end tonight. But this ending is definitely a better one than the one I had in mind.

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End file.
